It Takes a Village

Heads up, I launched the first episode of the podcast.
Listen on Apple or Spotify. 

(I went on a weekend retreat and intentionally limited screen time. So, I am writing this post a day late. It's worth the wait. )

It takes a village to raise a child. I've heard this saying my whole life, and most of that time, I looked at it from one perspective: The village should raise me. Then something happened: I became the village—in the sense of having a child to raise.

Reflecting on the village I was raised in, I was lucky enough to have certain teachers, coaches, and colleagues go out of their way to teach me or show me something that would change my life.

I've had coaches pick me up for practice and drop me off. I've had teachers stay late or meet with me to help improve performance. I had uncles who would drive me to football camps and college visits. 

I had a village, initially constructed by my parents and maintained and grown by me.

A week ago, a friend asked me how I knew so many people. I answered simply by meeting them. It's more complex than that, so I will think through some of my high-quality networks and advisors I can access and write about how I manage those relationships. 

Your village is created through a series of interactions with people. As stated before, you begin with parents, extended family, friends, friends of friends, teachers/advisors, co-workers, and colleagues.  

You build the village with the mindset that there is a nurture element of development and that we are all, to some extent, products of our environment. The tricky part is understanding what will lead to the best development outcome for everyone in the village.

My parents needed to cultivate a community around me that helped me explore who I was. My dad never knew American football was a thing; all he knew was soccer. Regardless, he put an expert around me when he said I was interested.

When I wanted to learn how to play the drums, he hired an instructor to come to our house to teach me once a week. 

He taught me to use his laptop when I was interested in computers and later gave me my first computer.

When we wanted to play on the football team, he approached the coach and convinced them to allow us to join even after the season started. Mind you, we were out of the district zone for this team; my dad wanted to ensure we had the best available instructors.

He did not know how to play or do any of the things. His only interest was our interests, which made me realize the type of people I need to bring to the village I'm building—people who always have your best interest in mind. 

I am building this village by creating a personal advisory board of people who can influence me the most in my PACT framework. For those new to my philosophies, here's the pact framework. 

It's a framework where you set three goals in four areas of life.

Personal - Anything related to extending life and joy.

• Pray 30 minutes a day
• Family time five a week, no screens
• MMA training twice a week

Academic

• Read two psychology books a month
• Read two theological books a month 
• Read two trading/entrepreneurship books a month 

Career

• Trade xxxx/day
• rcln & gcf 1k followers/subscribers by EOY
• One speaking gig a quarter

Therapy

• Read the Bible 30 minutes a day 
• Counsel one person a month
• Write once a week

The above is an example of specific goals, quantitative numbers with a particular time frame, routines, and habits. Now, I'd want to pull out atomic habits and create a system of triggers that will allow me to do this effortlessly.

This leads me to another critical aspect of having a village: its capital efficiency. If I can find one or a group of people to keep me accountable for this PACT and a group of people who can help me reach these goals tactfully, it would make it easier for you to succeed. 

It takes a village as a child. You benefited from one, so build one. 

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